01/20/2011

If there were ever two culinary ships meant to pass in the night without setting eyes on each other, it would be Spanish croquetas de jamón and Japanese sushi. The croquetas would say "Hola!" and attempt to give the sushi a big greasy kiss. The sushi would then cringe and withdraw in horror as politely as possible before running off to disinfect itself in rice wine vinegar. This is why you do not, and will never see, any croqueta-sushi fusion joints in your town.

Still, as I sat there watching a French man demonstrate how to make croquetas, and then sushi in a Spanish culinary school, I couldn't help but reflect on what an accurate portrayal of my life so far the lesson really was. If a Chilean man had walked in and showed us how to make Swiss fondue, all the countries I've lived in so far would have been completely covered. And that's not even counting all those Mormon casseroles, American layer cakes and New York City bagels that I spent the first 27 years of my life consuming before I moved abroad.

I wrote about tuna and sushi for this week's Jerusalem Post column so head over there for a great tataki recipe.

12/29/2010

I said I'd write more about my trip England but I decided to do it for my column over at The Jerusalem Post. It's about pudding. And just so you know, I was not the one who came up with the title. Go check it out!

Here's an excerpt:

“If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!” So says Pink Floyd and this is a serious threat indeed, because if there was one thing that the people in the British novels I read as a child seemed to eat a lot of, it was pudding. I pictured their supermarket aisles lined with boxes of instant Jell-o in every conceivable flavor- chocolate, butterscotch, tapioca, vanilla, hasty, figgy, plum and so on. Hadn't they ever heard of ice cream or donuts or Twinkies for heaven's sake? Didn't the little English children (and naturally at this point I would picture a combination of Oliver Twist and a motley group of Pink Floyd kids bellowing “We don't need no education”) ever long for anything different than pudding? They may not need "no education" but what about a bit of variety in their desserts?

12/15/2010

“Whirling Dervish” is one of those terms that most of us have heard in one form or another. “She vacuumed the living room like a whirling dervish” perhaps. But what is a dervish exactly? And how does it whirl? According to Urban Dictionary, a whirling dervish is often used to signify “a person whose behavior resembles a rapidly spinning object.” It uses the following sentence to demonstrate how the term might be used: “That woman must have taken her son's Ritalin as she is behaving like a whirling dervish.”

In reality, Whirling Dervishes have nothing to do with either vacuuming or Ritalin. Rather, they are members of the Mevlani Sufi Brotherhood, which was created by in the 13th century by the Sufic poet and Saint Mevlana Jalal al-din Rumi.

You know when you were a child and used to turn in circles over and over again until you inevitably fell down and hit your head on the corner of the coffee table, only to cry for 5 minutes and then get up and do it all over again? It was exhilarating right? Well, the Whirling Dervishes find that spinning around and around in circles is not only exhilarating, but that it can also be a way to achieve a closer union with God.

Find out about whirling dervish cuisine and get a great recipe for Lamb Pilaf by reading the rest of this article on World of Mouth!

12/13/2010

Many of you already know that I really like chestnuts. As I wrote in this piece for The Jerusalem Post, Americans are not in the habit of eating them although we always hear tell of people roasting them on the open fire and such. This is due to a tragic tree blight that wiped out nearly all of the American chestnut trees around the turn of the century. Very sad because chestnuts truly are delicious and are eaten all over Europe in both savory and sweet dishes.

Personally, I'm not that fond of the sweet creations but give me a hot savory chestnut pie or a chestnut soup and I'll consider showing you the top secret video of me earnestly singing karaoke to "It's the End of the World" by Skeeter Davis.

Another thing I really like is Spanish (there is also a Mexican version which is totally different) chorizo sausage. Beware though, because as I found out this last summer in Utah, what American supermarkets may label as chorizo can be a far cry from the real thing. It might be a good idea to get it from a specialty food shop.

Mmmm yum! Or "nyam nyam!" as they say here in Catalunya.

One of my favorite Spanish cook books is the Moro Cookbook from London's Moro restaurant. The recipes meet at the point where Spanish and Muslim-Mediterranean culinary culture come together. Each one that I've tried is excellent so when I saw a recipe for Chestnut Soup with chorizo and saffron, I knew I had to try it.

11/16/2010

"Ah Switzerland! It makes you think of cheese, chocolate and punctual people with cuckoo clocks on their walls. It does not, however, make you think of people hurling confetti at each other while dressed up as giant onions. But Switzerland has many sides and not everyone is aware, that every November the country is home to two of Europe’s most unique underground food festivals. And by underground, I do not mean experimental, alternative or subversive. I am talking about food that is literally grown under the ground- specifically, onions and turnips."

10/12/2010

"In North America, chestnuts were also commonly eaten until a chestnut blight wiped out nearly the entire chestnut tree population in the early 20th century. Unfortunately this means that aside from the occasional Thanksgiving turkey stuffing cameo, most Americans wouldn’t know what to do with a chestnut if it hit them upside the head (unlike the British who probably have some sort of official game rule concerning such an event)."

At the end of the column, there's a great recipe from Spanish food blogger Miriam Garcia (The Winter Guest) for Boozy Chestnut Soup!

Aside from writing about chestnuts, I've also been eating them. Wild mushrooms and chestnuts have started popping up in the markets of Barcelona and one can't help but be tempted.

When I saw this recipe for a chestnut and wild mushroom soup with parmesan cream and pears on NPR, I knew I had to make it. My version is slightly different in that I used sherry (I live in Spain after all!) instead of marsala as well as a few other small variations. This is not a soup that you should make if the only time you have free during the entire day is the 45 minutes between putting the kids to bed and the beginning of "So You Think You Can Dance."

This is, however, a soup you should most definitely make if you want to spend a couple of relaxing hours in the kitchen, smelling good smells and tasting delicious flavors.

In a large soup pot, render the pancetta with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, turnips, onions and celery, season with salt and pepper and cook 8 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized. Add the mushrooms and cook 15 minutes until tender and dry. Add the Marsala and deglaze the pan. Add the chicken stock and bouquet garni and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the pancetta and bouquet garni and puree until smooth.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saute pan. Add the chestnuts, season with salt and pepper, and cook 10 minutes or until golden brown. Add the shallot and cook 5 minutes. Add the white wine, bay leaves and thyme and reduce halfway. Add water to just cover the chestnuts. Cover with a round of parchment paper and cook 12 minutes or until tender. Remove herbs and puree until smooth.

Mix the two purees together. Taste and adjust seasoning.

To make the Parmesan cream, heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the cream is warm, whisk in the Parmesan cheese until it has completely melted. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.

To serve, put a quarter-cup Parmesan cream in the bottom of a warm soup bowl. Carefully pour the mushroom chestnut soup in the center of the cream. The cream should move up the side of the bowl, forming a white rim around the dark soup.

Mix the diced pear, cheese and celery together. Top the soup with the diced mixture. Garnish with celery leaves.

*A bouquet garni is a combination of herbs bundled in cheesecloth or tied with a string and used to flavor soup, stocks and sauces. I bunched together fresh thyme, sage, dried bay leaves and rosemary. You can also add dried or fresh marjoram, celery leaves or leek to your bundle.

10/06/2010

"Somewhere in this big world, somebody is almost always celebrating something, and usually, this celebrating involves delicious food. Why do the Spanish conduct funerals for sardines and what are the nine ingredients in guthuk, the special noodle prepared by Tibetans on Losar? What is Losar anyway? Bring the world to your mouth by reading about the festivities, fun and foods from across the globe on World of Mouth!"

And here's an excerpt from my first column which is all about Leidens Ontzet, a festival celebrated in Holland on October 3.

"In the meantime, the Spanish besiegers were apparently in the middle of cooking stew when they noticed the rising waters. They quickly yelled “Agua! Vamos! Rapido!” (or something like that) and then turned tail and ran. As legend has it, a small Dutch orphan boy named Cornelis Joppenszoon then crept through the abandoned Spanish camps and came across the pot of stew which they had left behind. The boy then brought this “hutspot” back to the townspeople to eat..."